Connectable lounge chairs

ABSTRACT

Lounge chair, serially connectable to form a lounge system comprising contiguous, self-supporting seat and back means which are connected by means of spaced connectors each having an upstanding leg member which receives an arm rest means and/or a ganging means connecting abutting lounge chairs.

Unite States tent 1 Sullivan Oct. 15, 1974 [5 CONNECTABLE LOUNGE CHAIRS 2,247,720 7/1941 Wonderly 297/443 x [75] Inventor: William H. Sullivan, Dallas, Tex. FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS [73] Assignee: The Vecta Group, Inc., Kalamazoo, 170,726 11/1934 Switzerland 297/248 Mi h 289,26] 3/]965 Netherlands 297/248 2 'l d: l 74 2] Fle Mar 1 9 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell [21] Appl. No.1 ,0 Attorney, Agent, or FirmAlexander and Speckman 52 us. c1 297/248, 297/249, 297/416, 7 [57] ABSTRACT 7 297/443, 297/455 [51 1111. C1. A47c 15/00 Lmmge Cha", Ft cqnneclable to form lounge [58] Field of Search 297/248, 249, 414-416, System compnsmg comlguous, self'suppomng seat 297/443 4544156 and back means which are connected by means of spaced connectors each having an upstanding leg [56] References Cited member which receives an arm rest means and/or a ganging means connecting abutting lounge chairs.

9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 1 CONNECTABLE LOUNGE CHAIRS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to seating systems and elements thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide lounge chairs which are serially connectable to form a lounge system.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means for removably connecting lounge chairs.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a lounge chair having removable arm rest means.

Still other objects of this invention will readily present themselves to the skilled artisan upon reference to the ensuing specification, the drawing, and the claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates a lounge chair, serially connectable to form a lounge system. The lounge chair comprises a self-supporting seat means; a self-supporting back means contiguous with said seat means; and a pair of spaced connector means each having a substantially horizontal member and an upstanding leg member, joining said seat means and said back means. Each horizontal member of said connector means is secured to said back means and to said seat means, and each upstanding leg member is interposed between said back means and said seat means.

To form a lounge system, a plurality of abutting lounge chairs is connected with a ganging means which comprises a pair of spaced locking members joined to opposite ends of an elongated bar and slidably engaged by adjacent upstanding leg members secured to abutting lounge chairs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF' THE DRAWINGS In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lounge chair embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of a lounge system embodying the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a ganging means;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the ganging means shown in FIG. 3 taken along line4-4;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of another ganging means;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of yet another ganging means;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a lounge system arranged at a 90 seating angle; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a lounge system arranged at a 270 seating angle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. I, lounge chair 10 comprises selfsupporting seat 11 and self-supporting back 12 contiguous to seat 11. Inverted-T connectors 13 and 14, each having a substantially horizontal member, such as members 15 and 16, and an upstanding leg member, such as members 17 and 18, are secured to seat 11 and back 12 on the underside thereof by screws or the like, thereby joining seat 11 to back 12. Connectors 13 and 14 are spaced relative to each other, and upstanding leg members 17 and 18 are interposed between said seat and back.

As shown in FIG. 2, lounge chair 10 is serially connectable to another, substantially similar, lounge chair 20 which comprises seat 21 and back 22 joined by inverted-T' connectors 23 and 24, having respective substantially horizontal members 25 and 26 and upstanding leg members 27 and 28. Connection between abutting lounge chairs 10 and 20 is effected by ganging means 34 which slidably engages upstanding leg members 18 and 27.

Ganging means 34 comprises a pair of spaced locking members such as collars 35 and 36 affixed to opposite ends of elongated bar 37. Ganging means 34 can be further provided with upstanding integral member 38, affixed to bar 37, which serves as a handle for ganging means 34 and also receives and retains arm rest 29. Downwardly-depending member 31 is tubular and is slidably received over member 38. Alternatively, downwardly-depending member 31 can be solid and member 38 can be tubular in which event downwardlydepending member 31 is slidably received within member 38.

In a similar manner, downwardly-depending member 33 of arm rest 19 slidably engages upstanding leg member 17. Also, arm rest 30 can be attached to upstanding leg member 18, after ganging means 34 is in place, by sliding downwardly-depending member 32 over upstanding leg member 18. By standardizing the crosssectional configurations of both the upstanding leg members, the upstanding members of the ganging means, and the downwardly-depending members of the arm rests, interchangeability of arm rests is readily achieved.

Another ganging means is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, wherein collars 39 and 40 are welded to bar 41 at opposite ends thereof. In this particular embodiment the upstanding leg members of adjacent inverted-T connectors are relied upon for providing anchor points for arm rests,

In order to arrange serially-connected lounge chairs in configurations other than a straight line, for example, at a 90 seating angle as shown in FIG. 7 or at a 270 seating angle as shown in FIG. 8, a ganging device of the type shown in FIG. 5 can be utilized. In this particular embodiment collars 42 and 43 are affixed to opposite ends of elongated bar 44 which is bent, at about the midpoint thereof, at an angle a. For the seating arrangement of FIGS. 7 and 8, a has a value of about 150.

Referring to FIG. 7, between lounge chairs l0 and 20 are interposed abutting wedge-shaped lounge chairs 50, 60 and having respective seat units 51, 61 and 71, and respective back units 52, 62 and 72 contiguous thereto. In like manner, in FIG. 8, abutting wedgeshaped lounge chairs 80, and 100, having respective seat units 81, 91 and 101, and respective back units 82, 92 and 102 contiguous thereto, are interposed between lounge chairs 10 and 20. In each instance, abutting lounge chairs are connected by a ganging means which slidably engages the upstanding leg members of adjacent inverted-T connectors secured to the abutting lounge chairs.

In the lounge system of FIG. 7, wedge-shaped lounge chairs 50, 60 and 70 have opposed sides converging back-to-front at an angle of about 30. In the lounge system of FIG. 8, opposed sides of wedge-shaped lounge chairs 80, 90 and are converging front-toback at an angle of about 30.

In embodiments of this invention where the upstanding leg members such as leg members 17, 18, 27 and 28 in FIG. 2 are tubular, e.g., having a cross-section of a rectangular tube, a ganging device of the type shown in FIG. 6 can be used. This ganging device comprises pin members 45 and 46 which depend downwardly from elongated bar 47 and are integral therewith.

The foregoing description and the drawings are illustrative and are not to be taken as limiting. Still other variations and rearrangements of parts are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

l claim:

1. Lounge chair, serially connectable to form a lounge system, which comprises a self-supporting seat means;

a self-supporting back means contiguous with said seat means; and

a pair of spaced connector means each having a substantially horizontal member and an upstanding leg member, and joining said seat means and said back means;

each horizontal member of said connector means being secured to said back means and to said seat means, and each upstanding leg member being interposed between said back means and said seat means.

2. The lounge chair in accordance with claim 1 wherein an arm rest means is provided with a downwardly-depending member which slidably engages said upstanding leg member and secures said arm rest means to the lounge chair.

3. The lounge chair in accordance with claim 2 wherein said downwardly-depending member is tubular and is slidably received over said upstanding leg member.

4. The lounge chair in accordance with claim 1 wherein each connector means has an inverted-T configuration.

5. A lounge system comprising a plurality of abutting lounge chairs, each abutting lounge chair including a self-supporting seat means, a self-supporting back means contiguous with said seat means, and a pair of spaced connector means each having a substantially horizontal member secured to said back means and to said seat means and an upstanding leg member interposed between said seat means and said back means; and

a ganging means connecting said abutting lounge chairs and comprising a pair of spaced locking members joined to opposite ends of an elongated bar and slidably received by upstanding leg members of adjacent connectors secured to abutting lounge chairs.

6. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said ganging means is further provided with an integral upstanding member for receiving an arm rest means.

7. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said elongated bar is bent, at about the midpoint thereof, at a predetermined obtuse angle in a plane normal to the longitudinal axes of said locking members.

8. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said ganging means comprises a pair of spaced collars, having substantially parallel longitudinal axes, joined to opposite ends of an elongated bar and slidably received over upstanding leg members of adjacent connectors secured to abutting lounge chairs.

9. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein each connector means has an inverted-T configuration. 

1. Lounge chair, serially connectable to form a lounge system, which comprises a self-supporting seat means; a self-supporting back means contiguous with said seat means; and a pair of spaced connector means each having a substantially horizontal member and an upstanding leg member, and joining said seat means and said back means; each horizontal member of said connector means being secured to said back means and to said seat meAns, and each upstanding leg member being interposed between said back means and said seat means.
 2. The lounge chair in accordance with claim 1 wherein an arm rest means is provided with a downwardly-depending member which slidably engages said upstanding leg member and secures said arm rest means to the lounge chair.
 3. The lounge chair in accordance with claim 2 wherein said downwardly-depending member is tubular and is slidably received over said upstanding leg member.
 4. The lounge chair in accordance with claim 1 wherein each connector means has an inverted-T configuration.
 5. A lounge system comprising a plurality of abutting lounge chairs, each abutting lounge chair including a self-supporting seat means, a self-supporting back means contiguous with said seat means, and a pair of spaced connector means each having a substantially horizontal member secured to said back means and to said seat means and an upstanding leg member interposed between said seat means and said back means; and a ganging means connecting said abutting lounge chairs and comprising a pair of spaced locking members joined to opposite ends of an elongated bar and slidably received by upstanding leg members of adjacent connectors secured to abutting lounge chairs.
 6. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said ganging means is further provided with an integral upstanding member for receiving an arm rest means.
 7. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said elongated bar is bent, at about the midpoint thereof, at a predetermined obtuse angle in a plane normal to the longitudinal axes of said locking members.
 8. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said ganging means comprises a pair of spaced collars, having substantially parallel longitudinal axes, joined to opposite ends of an elongated bar and slidably received over upstanding leg members of adjacent connectors secured to abutting lounge chairs.
 9. The lounge system in accordance with claim 5 wherein each connector means has an inverted-T configuration. 